10 weeks after flood, Jamestown is healing

JAMESTOWN -- To the unfamiliar eye, this mountain town is still a wreck.

Next to the post office Wednesday afternoon, a trackhoe scooped massive heaps of rusted metal and other debris into a trailer for removal.

On the south bank of James Creek, what remains of several houses torn apart by flood awaits final deconstruction before it, too, will be loaded into trailers and moved.

But town residents know Jamestown has come a long way in the 10 weeks since September's devastating flooding.

"I don't think in our wildest dreams we believed we would get this far," said David Mans, co-chief of the town's volunteer fire department. "It was discouraging at first."

Lower Main Street offers an example of the progress made. When U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., visited Jamestown in late September to survey the damage, a layer of sediment several feet thick covered the road, and large rocks and other debris, including the skeletons of smashed cars, lined the street.

On Wednesday, the cars and most of the large debris were gone. Significant work remains before the street will look anything like it did before the flood, but it was comparatively serene.

Mans, who has been staying in Boulder with his wife and two sons since the flood, credited volunteers from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief for helping launch recovery efforts.

"The Baptists were just huge in getting us moving," he said. "Honestly, I think they were monumental in creating enthusiasm and confidence we could do this."

Most impressive to Mans so far was the work led by the Environmental Protection Agency to clear the creek bed and surrounding corridor of debris to prepare James Creek to safely handle spring runoff. Cleanup efforts at Elysian Park were also encouraging, Mans said, noting it almost looks like it did before the flood.

Figuring out what to with James Creek, which now follows a different channel than it did before the flood and cuts through several private backyards, will be a challenge.

Discussions about the path of James Creek were under way Wednesday when Jamestown Mayor Tara Schoedinger met with several residents, representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies to walk along the creek and consider options.

Corey Nielsen, a Boulder-based architect whose summer cabin was lost to the flood, was among them. He also guided efforts of a large group of volunteers from the International Air Land Emergency Resource Team, who used pickaxes, shovels and other tools to help break down what remained of Nielsen's cabin for pickup by the Boulder County crews that began removing residential debris from the town Monday.

Keith Carr, of Walker Dozing and Excavating, loads debris into a dump truck with a backhoe Wednesday in Jamestown.
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JEREMY PAPASSO
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"Today was huge. Having 15 or 20 22-year-olds who call you sir?" Nielsen said with a smile. "A lot of what we've been doing also is filling in holes around the roots of trees to save them."

Nielsen said he will rebuild eventually, but he plans to start by planting grass.

"It was a sweet little property on the creek," he said. "In a year or two, it'll be again."

Mayor Schoedinger took a moment to reflect Wednesday on Jamestown's progress so far.

"It's been unbelievable, really," she said. "I don't know where we would be without all the help we've gotten."

Schoedinger noted the efforts of the Texas Baptist volunteers, Boulder County, the EPA, Xcel Energy and CenturyLink in helping advance the recovery. She also credited the emotional strength of Jamestown's residents.

She said the Jamestown Mercantile -- formerly owned by Joey Howlett, a beloved resident killed in the flood -- has been opening on Saturdays the last few weeks, allowing neighbors to congregate even though many are not staying in the town during the recovery.

"We've had an amazing turnout of our community members on weekends, taking advantage of a chance to get together," Schoedinger said, the emotion apparent on her face. "The community spirit here has been really strong through all of this."

International Air Land Emergency Resource Team volunteers Nicholas Greenlee, front, hands a piece of debris from a destroyed home to Brady Legault while cleaning up Wednesday in Jamestown.
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JEREMY PAPASSO
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